


The Winter Soldier: A Fairy Tale

by angelheadedhipster



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Snow, True Love, a complex retelling of 20th century history through dream motifs, fairy tale AU, regular marvel people as animals and familiars, why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 14:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15172697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelheadedhipster/pseuds/angelheadedhipster
Summary: Once upon a time there was a soldier.This soldier was brave, and he was true. He tried to fight for what was right. He fought against those who would prey on the weak, and for those ideals that he believed in.His name was Steve.





	The Winter Soldier: A Fairy Tale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nitpickyabouttrains](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitpickyabouttrains/gifts).



> Nitpickyabouttrains challenged me to write an AU this time, ideally a magical one, so I DID and it was AWESOME and so fun?? Thank you so much for such a good prompt, Y!
> 
> And of course I wrote this ages ago and havent gotten around to posting it, but Steve Rogers' birthday seems like a good time to do so. Happy 4th!

Once upon a time there was a soldier.

This soldier was brave, and he was true. He tried to fight for what was right. He fought against those who would prey on the weak, and for those ideals that he believed in.

His name was Steve.

The soldier lived in the city, near the king’s palace. Growing up, he was small and scrawny. When he needed to fight - for himself, for those who needed his help - he usually lost.

But Steve had a friend, as true a friend as anyone could ask for. The friend’s name was James but he was called Bucky. Bucky would fight with Steve, and he fought when Steve could not. They grew older together, in the dust and the dirt, in the shadow of the king’s city.

When the soldier and his friend came of age, the kingdom was at war. It was the fiercest war that this kingdom had ever seen, and many soldiers’ lives were lost. On both sides of this war there were new forms of magic and new weapons, more deadly than the world had ever seen, and many ordinary people were caught in between, anonymous deaths with nothing to show for them.

The soldier wanted to fight for his country, as small as he was.

A good wizard of the king, seeing how brave and true this soldier was, gifted him with magical powers. These powers made the soldier bigger, faster, stronger. The soldier could stop any sword, could run faster than any horse, could lift a cart, could see and react in the blink of an eye. He could run for days, and never tire. When his body was wounded, he would heal.  
The wizard gave him a shield, shining and bright, that could withstand any blow.

Now, he could fight.

 

The soldier fought in the war. He fought for his kingdom, even when he disagreed with his king, or the king’s advisors. He tried to fight for what was right, and against those who would prey on the weak.

Bucky fought beside him, as he always had.

As the war raged on, the good wizard was killed. Many were killed, whole towns and villages were destroyed. The air turned black. The armies grew tired.

An evil sorcerer arose, fighting against the soldier and his kingdom. This sorcerer had a head that glowed red, and he possessed a magical stone, one so powerful it could destroy entire lands. This sorcerer was treacherous and crafty, and he hid himself and his stone high in the mountains.

The soldier, and Bucky, and a band of the fiercest men they knew, went after the sorcerer. Picking their way across the mountains, they grew ever closer to the sorcerer’s lair. The rivers around them ran red and turgid, or black with the evil potions and elixirs that the sorcerer would brew. Over one particularly deep chasm, Bucky lost his balance. The soldier reached toward Bucky, but his hand grasped nothing but air.

Bucky fell into the chasm, and he was gone.

The soldier and his men defeated the sorcerer, but the sorcerer cast a spell that made the soldier sleep for 70 years, frozen in ice at the end of the world.

While the soldier slept, the world changed. One army was defeated, and another came. Because what kingdom is not plagued by enemies, from within and without?

The soldier dreamed, as he slept in the ice.  
He dreamed of a woman he knew, of battles he fought. He dreamed of his childhood in the city. He dreamed of dancing, or of being on a stage, red banners around him.

There were strange dreams, too, dreams not his own, as the world changed around him. He dreamt of bursts of fire, so bright they blocked out the sky. Of a creeping grey coldness. Of towers collapsing, of a pit of snakes.

But more than anything he dreamed of Bucky falling, over and over, his hand reaching out and finding nothing.

The soldier awoke in a new world. There were still battles to be fought. There were new and different enemies - from the air, from the sea - and new and different allies to fight alongside. The fight for justice and truth continued.

The soldier found a falcon, or the falcon found him. The falcon had fought on many battlefields, swooping down on enemy armies and pecking their eyes out, or flying overhead and spying out what was to come. The falcon was swift and fleet, and with his sharp eyes, he could see for miles in any direction. He flew alongside the soldier, and the soldier listened to what the falcon saw.

The soldier also met a spider, who worked for the king. She could kill any man or woman with a single bite, but she also could spin a web of lies, and make a person believe anything. The spider collected secrets, and she spoke every tongue known in the kingdom, and many more besides. The spider told the soldier what she knew, but she never told him everything.

The old king fell. On all sides were spies and traitors, and many who said they did not trust the soldier. They said that he lied about his past, about what he fought for. They said he was not who he said he was. With the falcon and the spider, the soldier tried to fight for what was right, for truth and justice. Sometimes he was not sure which side was right. Sometimes he had to guess.

Have you considered a wife? asked the spider. Maybe the girl next door?  
I can't, said the soldier.  
Maybe the baker, who lives at the corner of the road?  
I can't, said the soldier.

There were rumors of a shadow, in the east, or in the north, coming from the woods that were always covered in snow.

The king’s men, twisted and corrupted by a spell of treachery that was spilling across the kingdom, came after the soldier, and he escaped. As he ran from his home, sheild on his back, a shadow appeared in his path, swift and agile. Dark and silent. The soldier fought against the shadow, and he could not win.

If the soldier was the sun - bright, shining, true - this shadow was the cold and darkness of winter. This winter soldier was as fast as the soldier was fast. The soldier was as strong as the winter soldier was strong. Black hair fell into the winter soldier’s face, and his arm was a sheaf of metal, burnished silver that reflected no light. He wore a mask over his mouth, and his eyes were painted with black.

They fought, and neither won.

We have to go, the falcon said. You can’t win this fight.

Steve turned, one last time, and landed one last blow on the winter soldier. The blow did not hurt him, but it pulled the mask off the winter soldier’s face.

The soldier knew the face he saw.

Now, said the falcon.

They are coming, said the falcon.

The soldier did not move.

Bucky, said the soldier. Bucky.

Who is Bucky? said Bucky, as long hair blew into his eyes, painted black.

 

He’s evil now, said the falcon. They hid under a bridge, water dripping through cracks. Look what he did to you, said the falcon, as he helped the soldier bandage his hand, pulling gauze with his beak.

It’s a spell, said the spider, weaving more gauze with her webbing. And then she said nothing, and they knew that there was more she knew, and would not say.

He doesn’t know what he is doing, said the soldier. And I know him.

 

The winter soldier appeared again, this time fighting alongside men who used to belong to the king, who had been tricked and spellbound, their eyes black and blank. This time they fought in a castle alongside the river. Archers shot at the falcon, flying for his life. The spider spun her webs as fast as she could. Fire burned on all sides, the sound of men shouting, black smoke pooling over the water.

Above them all, the soldier fought his oldest friend.

Bucky, said the soldier. What are you doing?

I don’t know you, Bucky snarled, and shoved the soldier off the tower.

The soldier fell.

As he hit the water, his eyes closed, and he saw winter, snow, cold mountains and a deep, dark chasm. He reached out, but his hand grasped nothing but water.

 

In the water beside him appeared a dark shape, solid, opaque. It was this shape that pulled the soldier to the surface, that forced air back into his lungs. When the soldier opened his eyes, that shadow was gone.

 

I have to find him, said the soldier.

But there are battles to fight, said the falcon.

I have to, said the soldier.

But there are traitors, and spies, said the spider.

I have to.

 

Steve’s dreams were only of Bucky now. Even awake, Bucky was all he saw.

 

I know the witch who did this, said the spider. And I know how. He may never wake up from this spell.

I have to, said the soldier.

He may wake up, and remember, the spider said. Would you want that for him?

 

You don’t even know where he is, said the falcon, flying back and forth in agitation above the soldier’s head. You shouldn’t go.

I have to, says the soldier, hoisting his pack. I’ll know where. He had food for a journey of several days, and water, and a knife for when the food ran out. He was dressed for snow.

I’m small, said the spider. I can come with you, and no one will know. She skittered across the ground as the soldier started to walk, but her legs were small and she soon fell behind.

I have to go alone, said the soldier. The journey is far, and I do not know how long it will take.

Come back after you find him, please, said the falcon.

Don’t let him hurt you, Steve, said the spider.

The soldier did not reply, but his shield caught the sun as he walked into the woods, soon moving beyond their sight.

 

The soldier walked for several hours, and then for several days. He walked north, and east, into the woods. As the woods became colder, patches of snow appeared, and then fields of snow. Soon the woods was only snow.

He was following Bucky, that he knew. He was following a path he could only feel when he was not looking for it. His strides were steady and true.

Steve slept at night, curled with his pack on the forest floor, but his dreams did not let him sleep for long. He woke before the sun and walked in the predawn light, soft beams making the snow sparkle.

The forest was quiet. The soldier walked alone, and his footsteps were the only sound he heard.

It was near dawn on the fourth day when the soldier came upon a clearing in the woods, and he knew this was where he would find the winter soldier. The snow was spotted with red, drops of blood that had fallen and stained the ground.

The soldier walked into the clearing, in the pale light of the morning sun.

The winter soldier was leaning against a tree, his eyes downcast, his mouth twisted. The rays of the sun fell around him, across him, but the sun seemed not to reach the man himself. The metal of his arm did not shine. The black of his hair seemed to be in shadow. A gash on his other arm was bleeding, deep and red.

Bucky, said the soldier. I’m here. I came for you.

The winter soldier turned his head, and his eyes were still painted black. His hair fell into his face, and he said nothing.

Bucky, said the soldier, I came for you. I’m not here to fight you. See? He laid his shield down in the snow between him and the winter soldier.

The winter soldier did not respond, only looked at the soldier as he stood in the weak light of the sun.

Bucky, said the soldier, I won’t hurt you.

The soldier took off his armor, the leather that circled his ankles and arms. He took off his boots, standing barefoot in the snow.

Bucky, said the soldier. You can have my strength. I don’t need it. I won’t use it against you.

The winter soldier stared, and said nothing.

Bucky, said the soldier. It’s me. It was always me. Look. And he took off his tunic, and he took off all his clothes, until he was standing in the snow, naked, shivering slightly in the pale dawn.

The winter soldier’s expression did not change. He could be made of stone, except for the red of his lips, the twitching of his fingers.

Bucky, said the soldier, come back to the kingdom. Come back to the side of good.

He moved closer, and the winter soldier’s eyes flicked up. His shoulders hunched, and his lip rose over his teeth, like a growl. Like an animal expecting an attack.  
The soldier took a step closer, and the winter soldier punched him.

Steve did nothing, swayed on his feet. Blood dripped from his face, down his bare chest and onto the snow.

Bucky, said the soldier, come back to us, and Bucky punched him again.

Steve blinked, blood clotting his eyelashes together. He said, I could do this all day.

He stepped closer. The winter soldier stared at him, his face afraid, but he did not move.

Bucky, said the soldier. They were close now, close enough that a sparrow couldn’t fly between them.

Come back to _me_ , Bucky, said the soldier. I miss you. I have always missed you. I don’t care about the kingdom. Come back to me.

The winter soldier said nothing, and he did not move.

The soldier leaned closer, closer, closer.

Steve’s lips brushed against the winter soldier’s lips, cold in the snow, warming to his touch. As they kissed, there was a sound like the chiming of bells, and then like the crackle of embers. Steve felt something move in the air, something shiver and wash away.

(Later, when the soldier told this part of the story to his friends, the falcon laughed, cawing into the sky.

True love’s kiss, said the falcon.

We should have known, said the spider, and she waved her little legs.)

The sun was just breaking over the horizon as Bucky’s lips moved, as he kissed his oldest friend. Steve shivered, and arms wrapped around him, one metal, one the warm solidity of flesh.

Their faces parted, and Steve opened his eyes. Blue eyes looked back at him, shining in clear pale skin.

Steve? said the winter soldier, and the morning sun felt warm on his skin.

**Author's Note:**

> This silly thing is somewhat indebted to two Hockey RPF fics involving fairy tales that I read around when I was writing it - ["Evgeni and the Seal"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145387) for general tone, and ["Any Wish You Want"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3432215) for the ending. They are both great, you should read them!


End file.
